News
Ford’s love affair with EVs softens as profitability and consumer trends take focus
Update: headline updated to show Ford is still committed to EVs, just at a less intense rate.
Ford’s love affair with EVs is softening, the automaker announced today, as it shifted plans for its next few vehicles to be hybrid-electric instead of fully electric.
The move comes as profitability and consumer trends are taking focus. Ford has struggled to get its head above water in terms of making money on its EVs, scaling back its investment amount on one occasion and adjusting its strategy on another.
Consumers are also showing more interest in hybrids than pure EVs. Studies have shown that hybrid drivers are among the most satisfied on the road, as a recent survey from ACSI displayed increased satisfaction from those drivers over pure EV and gas engine owners.
Ford is taking steps to pull back from its increased focus on EVs and instead go into a new direction. “We’re committed to creating long-term value by building a competitive and profitable business,” Ford’s Vice Chair and CFO John Lawler said. “With pricing and margin compression, we’ve made the decision to adjust our product and technology roadmap and industrial footprint to meet our goal of reaching positive EBIT within the first 12 months of launch for all new models.”
How is Ford’s Strategy Changing?
Ford’s new strategy will see its next three-row SUVs utilize hybrid technologies. It also wants to adjust the speed at which electric vehicle models are released, hoping to be more aligned with customer adoption instead of keeping pace with industry leaders.
Tesla sells well, but Ford, even though it has been the number two brand in the U.S. for EVs, has not been able to keep pace. Tesla, simply put, is head and shoulders above everyone in the market when it comes to reliability, tech, and charging infrastructure. Although Ford has adopted Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) and gained access to the Supercharger Network, consumers still lean toward the Model 3 and Model Y, two vehicles that have dominated the market for the past several years.
Ford is taking a $400 million non-cash charge for the write-down of certain product-specific manufacturing assets for all previously planned all-electric SUVs. The company will no longer build these models, it said.
Focus on Commercial EVs
Ford will still be building EVs, but its entire game plan will be shifting significantly. Ford’s next-gen EVs will be built at the Ohio Assembly Plant in 2026 and will start with a commercial van.
The E-Transit will still be produced, as it is the best-selling commercial EV van in the country. It also helps business owners keep their bottom line as it has positive impacts on the total cost of ownership.
A New, Low-Cost, High Efficiency EV
Ford will bring a new mid-sized EV pickup to market in 2027 with more range, utility, and useability. It will be the first vehicle that comes as a result of the platform developed by the Ford Skunkworks team that the company established in 2022.
The platform developed by the Skunkworks team will yield more EVs in “multiple vehicle styles” and is designed to scale quickly thanks to its “minimal complexity.”
A new Electric Truck
Ford’s F-150 Lightning was the best-selling EV truck for several months, although Cybertruck overtook it in June. Ford planned to bring a new truck to market next year, labeling it the “T3.” However, this has been pushed back.
Ford will now bring the T3 pickup to market in the latter half of 2027. This will offer more features and experiences than any other Ford truck, including upgraded bi-directional charging and advanced aerodynamics. It will be built at the BlueOval City Electric Truck Center in Tennessee.
Overall, Ford’s shift in strategy is probably for the better, considering its business was quite literally hemorrhaging money. It is important that it develops and builds EVs, as many customers are still in the market for one and now prefer that powertrain to any other.
However, in the grand scheme, hybrids have taken over as the most desirable powertrain, which is pushing Ford to make this shift in the name of making money and going with what consumers want.
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Tesla is rolling out a new version of its Full Self-Driving suite to some owners that comes with the massive addition of a safety feature.
Tesla is rolling out Automatic Collision Evasion with the 2026.27.6 Software Update, which started rolling out to some vehicles last night. We received the update, along with Full Self-Driving v14.3.9, which has identical release notes as the previous version and seems to have some refinements and improvements in behavior and performance.
🚨 Tesla FSD v14.3.9 is rolling out as well as 2026.27.6 which includes Automatic Collision Evasion
Brand new safety features from a software update. My Tesla gets better everytime I get one of these pic.twitter.com/ctrMiQXWhM
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) September 8, 2026
However, most of the attention has fallen on the Automatic Collision Evasion feature, which we covered in an article last week.
The function will activate Full Self-Driving to “try to keep your vehicle safe and then continue driving. It can engage in the following situations while you are driving manually:
- Scenario 1: A frontal collision is imminent and braking alone may not avoid it.
- Scenario 2: Your vehicle detects that you are not sufficiently attentive to the road (for example, reaching toward the back seat), or that Full Self-Driving (Supervised) may have been unintentionally disengaged.”
Essentially, FSD will take over when the vehicle determines you are not paying sufficient attention or are heading toward a potential collision. The addition of this feature is incredibly useful as distracted driving is a major issue in today’s world.
Along with the new safety feature is Tesla FSD v14.3.9, which has no additional release notes compared to the previous version, but in my first drives, my first impression is that operation is great, and parking is still sort of a pain point.
Just took a 15-mile round trip to the gym and back
Pretty on par with what FSD is nowadays – really good. Not enough time to see what’s good and what’s bad, but these first rides on any version feel shockingly good. They’re all pretty identical https://t.co/WN1qTg4bhE
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) September 9, 2026
The addition of an Automatic Collision Evasion feature is similar to that of other collision avoidance systems that are used by companies like Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. These programs typically utilize radar and camera sensors to apply emergency brakes autonomously, though evasive steering in a manual driving mode is pioneered primarily by Tesla’s newest addition.
Elon Musk
Tesla primes Cybercabs for 4K streaming and high bandwidth gaming with Starlink integration
Tesla is now shipping Cybercabs from Giga Texas with Starlink hardware built in as standard.
Tesla’s Cybercabs are now leaving Gigafactory Texas with Starlink hardware on the rear hatch in significant numbers, according to drone footage captured Tuesday by longtime Austin drone observer Joe Tegtmeyer. Production at the factory ramped back up after the Labor Day weekend, and his flyover of the outbound lot showed rows of gold Cybercabs alongside Model Y Long Wheelbase units, many carrying the satellite module for the first time as standard equipment rather than a one off retrofit.
Giga Texas today is busy with production coming back up following the long weekend. Of interest today in the outbound lot is the appearance of hundreds of Mode; YL’s and many more Cybercabs and for the 1st time equipped with the Starlink module one the hatch in big numbers.
At… pic.twitter.com/G9yl6s51m4
— Joe Tegtmeyer 🚀 🤠🛸😎 (@JoeTegtmeyer) September 8, 2026
Tesla first showed Starlink built into an actual Cybercab on August 10, when the Robotaxi account posted images of a single gold unit with the antenna integrated into the roofline above the taillights and called it the first Cybercab with Starlink integration. That followed a July reveal where Tesla and Starlink jointly posted a cutaway diagram of the antenna placement without a working vehicle to back it up. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s VP of AI software, said at the time that the connection isn’t required for the car to drive itself. It exists mainly for navigation, customer service and keeping tabs on the fleet.
Musk has made a different case in public. During Tesla’s Q2 earnings call, he said the company can’t afford robotaxis stranded in what he called “Bermuda Triangles of lack of cellular connectivity,” and he separately claimed on X that Starlink will eventually reach every Tesla built, calling it the only way to deliver high bandwidth to billions of vehicles. He has also pitched the antenna as an entertainment upgrade, telling riders they would be able to stream 4K video or play games during a trip.
The rollout has moved fast since. Robotaxi service opened to the public in Austin on September 3, and Cybercabs had already been spotted with Starlink hardware in Houston and near Miami International Airport in the weeks before Tuesday’s factory footage showed the module shipping at volume rather than on scattered test units. Whether the satellite link earns its keep is still an open question. Tesla’s unsupervised service currently runs in dense metro geofences in Texas and Florida, markets where cellular coverage is already strong, which is not where the rural dead zones Musk describes tend to show up.
After launching in Austin, Texas, last week, Tesla is looking to expand the Cybercab to new parts of the United States in an effort that will see the driverless, steering wheel-less, and pedal-less vehicle chauffeur people around as part of the Robotaxi ride-hailing service.
However, the expansion will go far beyond the United States, and CEO Elon Musk revealed he hopes Europe will be the next market where Cybercab will be operational.
Musk has publicly expressed hope that Tesla’s Cybercab robotaxi will reach Europe in the near future.
On September 8, Tesla’s Chief Executive quoted a German rider who had just completed a trip in Austin, Texas, and wrote that he hoped the vehicle would not take years to arrive in Germany. Musk replied with a short but notable message: “Hopefully soon in Europe too.”
Hopefully soon in Europe too https://t.co/vqQ69bLJuN
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 8, 2026
The comment arrived only days after Tesla opened Cybercab ride-hailing to the public in Austin. The two-seat vehicle has no steering wheel or pedals and relies entirely on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software. Early passengers have described the rides as quiet, smooth, and more stylish than competing robotaxis such as Waymo.
Austin is currently the only city where members of the public can hail a Cybercab through Tesla’s Robotaxi app. The initial fleet is small; Texas registration records show only a few dozen of the purpose-built vehicles on the road.
Tesla set to open Cybercab rides to the public, with no steering wheel or pedals
Tesla has also been operating a larger number of conventional Model Y robotaxis in the same area, but the Cybercab itself represents the company’s first dedicated, controls-free taxi design.
Europe presents a different regulatory picture. The European Union does not permit manufacturers to self-certify vehicles the way Tesla did in the United States.
Type-approval rules and a small-series limit of 1,500 automated vehicles per type per year apply across the bloc.
Supervised Full Self-Driving has gained provisional approval in several member states through national recognition of Dutch certification, yet unsupervised robotaxi operation remains a separate and more distant step. Tesla has not announced a European launch city, date, or approval pathway for the Cybercab.
Musk himself has previously cautioned that the company does not control European regulators. In an earnings call earlier in 2026, he noted that even supervised FSD took an “immense amount of time” to clear and that unsupervised service would be “somewhat at the mercy of the governments in Europe and the EU.”
The latest social-media remark therefore functions more as an expression of intent than a timetable.
If the Cybercab eventually reaches European streets, it would mark a significant expansion of Tesla’s robotaxi ambitions beyond the United States. For now, the vehicle remains an Austin-only experience, and the gap between Musk’s hope and actual deployment will be decided by regulators rather than by engineering alone.
Tesla is rolling out a new FSD version with a massive safety addition
Tesla primes Cybercabs for 4K streaming and high bandwidth gaming with Starlink integration
